The Grand (Canyon) Story of DeWayne Russell - The Heart of the Antelopes
Rhode Island has the benefit of bringing in Daron Russell on to their team in the 2017-2018 season but before him, DeWayne Russell took the college basketball world by storm in Phoenix, Arizona. His decision to transfer from Northern Arizona to Grand Canyon University elevated his career to another level.
Nowadays, the only players that the general college basketball fan is aware of is the five-star recruits that attend powerhouse programs like Duke, Kentucky, and UNC. As a result, DeWayne Russell is one of the best players that you have never heard of. I am not going to sit here and act like I knew who #0 from the Grand Canyon Antelopes was either, at least not until his senior season, including his ridiculous game at home vs. Louisville.
I may not be a fan of Rick Pitino but I know that the man knows how to coach some great college basketball teams. Therefore, when a head coach that has won two national championships and made it to 7 Final Fours praises a college basketball player on an opposing team, it is time for everyone to listen (as was the case with DeWayne Russell). At the time, the Antelopes' starting point guard scored 42 points in a tight contest at home against the #14 Louisville Cardinals. The 42 outstanding points was good enough to be the second-most points ever scored against Louisville. I am sure that when Rick Pitino signed up a head-to-head series with Grand Canyon, he never expected a single player to drop 42 points on his team.
In the postgame conference, Pitino called Russell's 42-point outpouring the "best guard performance" he has seen in his entire 42-year coaching career. I guess I see where his younger brother got the ability to "get buckets". In addition, the famed Louisville head coach went on to say,
"We put everybody on him. We trapped him. He did it from mid-range, inside, free throws, and 3's. That was an awesome performance." This performance single-handedly caught the attention of Pitino, me, and the large majority of the college basketball world. If Russell is able to secure a secure position at the professional level of basketball, this sole performance could the catalyst for that very success.
Besides his performance on the court, his head coach and former Phoenix Suns player, Dan Majerle loves him as a player and as person. In an interview conducted approximately two months ago, he said, "It’s always good to have players who have the same mentality as you do, and DeWayne has the same mentality as I do." Also, the GCU coach spoke about his lead point guard's desire to simply win ball games, "The best thing about DeWayne is, he wants to do whatever it takes to win, and if that means scoring he’ll score and if that means giving it to other people he’ll do that also...". Furthermore, Majerle spoke about how Russell has improved as an individual when interacting with people and as a college student.
On the court, DeWayne Russell has put together a nice set of accomplishments. In his first season since transferring over to GCU (his sophomore season), he was named to the second-team All-WAC and to the all-newcomer squad as a junior. In his junior season, Russell led the WAC with 182 assists during the season, which is the equivalent of averaging 5.4 assists per game. After starting 33 out of 34 games as a junior, he led the charge that enabled Grand Canyon to a second-place finish in the WAC and an overall record of 27-7. In his senior season, Russell's Antelopes finished in a second-place tie in the WAC and an overall record of 22-9. The point guard put together a senior season that consisted of averaging a career-high 21.2 points, to go with 40% FG, 39.7% 3PT, 75.8% FT, and averaging 3.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 1.5 steals per game.
Grand Canyon's #0 will be representing the West team in the Reese's Division I College All-Star Game and he is a strong candidate for the Mid-Major Player of the Year award (from the College Court Report). In many respects, Russell was robbed of the WAC Player of the Year award in his senior season but I think the fans who watch the conference know who the real POY winner was. As a college basketball fan, I respect the effort that DeWayne Russell put forth towards building the Grand Canyon basketball program. I was able to catch a couple of games at the end of the 2017-2018 season and I was impressed by the atmosphere of the Antelope crowd, which was created by this man's play under Dan Majerle.
I am just happy that DeWayne Russell has his younger brother's best interest in mind and that means Daron Russell is headed to Rhode Island this summer for workouts.
Dan Majerle will surely miss his floor general and point guard, DeWayne Russell.
